Bubbles
by nightwishspark
Summary: Even through hell some things still hold true. Implied ZacxCloud relationship


**Just a little ZackxCloud ficlet I had up my sleeve. I thought it was appropriate since Crisis Core just came out Anyway, I own nothing here except my own crazy ideas. **

**Bubbles**

_by: Primusgal_

Bubbles, those tiny little rainbow colored bubbles were one of the only things his blurry eyes could focus on. He dully wondered if those little colored wonders were actually in the mako tainted liquid he was trapped in or if he was finally loosing the small grip he had on his sanity. Either way, it was still and intriguing thought

"Cloud," a stern voice jolted him out of the strange thoughts that were circling thought his head. He turned his attention away from all the tiny circles that were surrounding him and tried to focus on the barely visible shadowy figure that was in the tank next to his own. "You doin ok in there, kid."

He would've laughed if he had been anywhere else and heard those words echo through the thick glass. But he was dizzy and slightly delirious not to mention that his sense of humor had all but faded away. The blond wanted to reply but he was shy about opening his mouth in this viscous liquid. He may have gotten used to the constant burning in his lungs but, the horrible sting of mako in his throat he wasn't sure that was worth the few words he could barely squeak out anyway.

So, he managed to reassure Zack as best he could by placing a few fingertips on the glass so he could whip away the green film that collected on the side of his tank. It wasn't much but it was enough that he could see the Zack floating against the sea of green.

The black haired man definitely looked healthier then he felt but wasn't sure how true that actually was.

"Just hang in there Spike, I'll find a way to get us out of here."

The strong conviction that Zack spoke with was humorous to him. Escaping? They had tried to escape before and Cloud had come to the conclusion that it was impossible. His hope fading every time they draged him back to his liquidity prison. The experiments had not helped either. The poking and prodding, the cutting and stabbing it had all accelerated his lose of faith along with any feeling that he was still human after all they had done to him.

He'd wanted to be a Soldier, wanted the power that mako gave people but, not like this...this was wrong and depraved and if they didn't get away from this cursed place soon there wouldn't be anything left of him for even Zack to save if he managed a way to get out. He hoped that Zack would have the sense to leave him here if Hojo succeeded in turning him into the monster that he had planned on creating. Enough time surely must have passed for people to realize they had been missing. That thought shocked him. Geae knows how long they had actually been here. Wherever they were.

Although an unknown amount of time had passed since they had been here Cloud still remembered the day before everything went black with perfect clarity, the day that his life shattered into a million tiny pieces.

_He remembered that he had been drifting in and out of consciousness the gaping hole in his stomach throbbing but at the same time being awkwardly numb. Anything that was said around him was nothing but an echoy wash in the part of his brain that was still managing to function. _

"_Sir, there is no way he's going to survive the trip. He's on the verge of death." _

" _Then what are you waiting for? Get the injection ready." _

_He could barely feel the warm sting in his arm but afterward all the feeling came rushing back into his body, every last nerve lighting on fire with pain. That was the first time he'd truly gotten a taste of what was to come. The blond had been sure that nothing could ever be as painful as having Sephiroths masamune rammed through his chest but, he was unpleasantly surprised. The sensations he felt when the Jenova was stitching his body back together made his sword wound feel like nothing but a small paper cut in comparison. The terrible burning, his throat raw from screaming and his body weakly thrashing in protest to the alien substances that were bonding to his body. He remembered reaching out desperately to Zack before he felt another cool needle slide into his neck sending him into the waiting oblivion of sleep. He faintly recalled not wanting to die on the cold steel floor of the reactor; but if he would've known what he was going to wake up to he would've gladly taken his last breath in the Nibel Reactor at the hands of Sephiroth. _

He realized that his fingertips were still laying against the glass and Zack's bright eyes had never left his. He managed as much of a smile as he could in order to not worry his friend but he was sure that it only concerned him more.

"I promise Spike, I wont let them get away with hurting you." His heart wrenched when Zack's fingers touched the glass as well. He could imagine how good it would feel to touch Zack's hand, clench their fingers together and never let go again. The warmth he remembered when the black-haired man would lay next time him or even place the lightest of touches on his bare skin the blonde craved it since he had not been touched by anything but cold sterile tools and horrible freezing bony hands.

"I love you." Zack was tracing a heart on the glass when they both heard a door slam in the echoy dank room. There was a soft hiss by the controls of Zack's tank and the liquid erupted in bright bubbles like it always did when the poison was being drained out of their cages. The traced heart remained on the glass illuminated by the glowing green liquid before Zack's fingers wiped away the symbol of affection while being pulled down with the force of the liquid.

At that moment Cloud felt like his own heart had been split in two.


End file.
